Class 1 (2nd) (Locobase 14320)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 53. pp. 7+. Works number was 45923 in July 1917.

The SS&S bought saddle-tanks of this diminuitive size and characteristic arrangement for over twenty-five years (Locobases 11663 and 12209). Presumably the first #1 wore out in its southeastern Virginia logging service, so the railroad ordered another. Except for a healthy boost in boiler pressure settings and a little more weight on the railes, the second #1 was little different from the first.

Class 11 (Locobase 12209)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volumes 25. p. 24. Works numbers were 20863-20864 in August 1902 and 20933 in September.

It is possible that the trio shown in this entry were identical to the 5 delivered to the SS&S in 1888 (Locobase 11663), but the saddle tank holds 50 gallons more water in the 1902 variant.

Class 3 (Locobase 11663)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, 1888, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 14, p. 90. Works numbers were 9042 in February 1888, 10399 in October 1889, 12254 in September 1891, 12805 in July 1892, and 12938 in September.. Information about the SS & S from the Dendron Historical Society's website at []

Five of these tanks show up on the spec sheet cited above. Connelly shows 4 (3, 5, 7, 9) going directly to the SS & S, while the #1, built in September 1892, apparently was shipped to the Standard Kiln Dried Lumber Company. The latter two he describes as having 26" drivers. Given the drawn-out delivery schedule for these small tanks, the change in diameter seems quite likely.

Chartered in 1886, the SS & S was a Virginia logging road that extended south from the James River. Over the first 28 miles, according to the DHS's account, the railroad stopped at Surry, Moorings, Elberon, Sexton, Dendron, Wakefield, Manry and Dory. A timetable shows that the mail train's pace over the line went at a leisurely clip. Leaving Dory at 9:55 AM, the all-stops train would arrive at Scotland on the James River at 1 PM having averaged 8 mph (12.9 kph); this at least in part accounts for the railroad's nickname:"The Sit, Sat, & the Sorry". (A Scotland-Dendron/Dendron-Scotland train would cover its 14-mile/22.5 km segment in an hour.) This common-carrier portion's principal commodity traffic was peanuts.

To exploit a given stand of lumber, the railroad would lay track temporarily. It would then take up that track and reuse it elsewhere. "Therefore," the DHS historian concedes, "it is not known what the length of their track was at any given time. Eventually, track was laid into five Virginia counties (Surry, Sussex, Southampton, Price George and Isle of Wight)."

The history notes one classic outcome of such exploitative efforts: "Several towns in these counties owe their existence to the Surry Lumber Company and its Railroad."